Context of practice and quality of physical training among soccer referees in Benin

In Benin, the factors behind the low representation of international-level referees on the FIFA list (8‰) are not known. The context of practice and the training followed by these referees would be potential factors. The study is of a cross-sectional type with participants, 42 referees aged 20 to 39 (including twenty-six of international level) who completed the questionnaire and 10 managers aged 32 to 74 interviewed. The majority of referees said that the Practice Context was Unfavorable to the production of a good performance (85.6%; p = 0.006) but that the Quality of training was Good (64.3%; p = 0.07). In addition to the management of communication and the managerial aspect which were assessed as Favorable , all the other sub-dimensions of the Context of practice were Not favourable to a good performance (χ2 = 0.09; p < 0.01). Leaders asserted that the practice context and the quality of physical training were not conducive to producing good performance. Among the two causes stated, the Context of practice seems more at the origin of the low representation of Beninese referees on the CAF and FIFA lists.